Dragon Age: Origins expansion pack official

While your Return to Ostagar might be delayed, you will be happy to hear that the expansion pack to Dragon Age: Origins has been officially announced.

In Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening you’ll be gaining an entire new world, Amaranthine, in which to explore more of the darkspawn background. New enemies in this region will include advanced forms of the darkspawn we already know (they talk!), as well as completely new creatures like the Inferno Golem and Spectral Dragon. I could certainly do with more dragons in my DragonAge.

Dr. Ray Muzyka explains, “The vibrant worldwide community of DragonAge fans will relish uncovering the secret motivations of the darkspawn, revealing how the darkspawn continue to infest the world despite the defeat of the Archdemon.”

You can start a new character, or continue with the one you have been building. As the Grey Warden Commander, you set out to rebuild the order of Grey Wardens after their depletion at the hands of Loghain.

In the process, you’ll find that the idea of putting moral choices in the hands of the gamer still flourishes. You’ll be making decisions as to how to rebuild the Grey Warden order, and how to deal with the darkspawn. BioWare also mentions a character known as the Architect. Insert Matrix reference here. A conflict spurring with the Architect will force you into more moral decision making in the coming expansion.

As for your characters, you’ll be able to re-spec them to your liking to customize your experience in the expansion. Of course, with any new expansion you’ll be likely to see what BioWare is promising in their first expansion for DragonAge: increased level cap, new spells, abilities, specializations, items, and party members (5 in total).

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening will be available across platforms on March 16th for $39.99. Check the trailer below as well as a few screenshots for a more visual look at the upcoming expansion.

EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA – January 5, 2010 – Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), announced today Dragon Age™: Origins – Awakening, the first official expansion pack to Dragon Age: Origins, the recent recipient of Spike TV’s Best RPG and PC Game of 2009, IGN’s Best RPG of 2009 and CNN.com’s Best RPG of 2009. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening will be available for the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC on March 16, 2010.

Designed and written by the same team that brought you Dragon Age: Origins, the Awakening expansion pack offers a brand new area of the world to explore known as Amaranthine, featuring an epic story that will allow players to unravel the secrets of the darkspawn - and their true motivations! Players will face a range of horrific and terrifying creatures including an evolved, intelligent breed of darkspawn and other menacing creatures such as the Inferno Golem and Spectral Dragon. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening provides exciting new ways for players to customize their heroes and party, including the ability to re-spec their character attributes, allowing even greater customization and replayability. Featuring an increased level cap, new spells, abilities, specializations and items, plus five all-new party members, players can continue their adventures from Dragon Age: Origins, or begin with a brand new character.

“Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening shows BioWare’s commitment to our fans by delivering new story-driven experiences which enrich the dark heroic fantasy universe our fans have come to know and love,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group, EA, and Co-Founder, BioWare. “The vibrant worldwide community of Dragon Age fans will relish uncovering the secret motivations of the darkspawn, revealing how the darkspawn continue to infest the world despite the defeat of the Archdemon.”

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, BioWare’s next thread in the Dragon Age: Origins tapestry, occurs following the events of Dragon Age: Origins and puts players into the role of a Grey Warden Commander entrusted with rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens. In addition to rebuilding the ranks of the Grey Wardens, you will be tasked with uncovering the mystery of how the darkspawn survive after the slaying of the Archdemon. How players choose to rebuild their order, resolve the conflict with the mysterious “Architect,” and determine the fate of the darkspawn are just some of the many intriguing moral choices that will shape each player’s heroic journey. Players will be able to import their character from Dragon Age: Origins or start out as a new Grey Warden from the neighboring land of Orlais.

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening will be released March 16, 2010 worldwide on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 console and PC. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening will be available for $39.99 on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles in North America and will require Dragon Age: Origins to play. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening is rated M by the ESRB and 18+ by PEGI.